Perspective from Vancouver

Articles Canadians love: A jobs lesson for the U.S.

Canadians love reading stories like this, but only if they’re written by Americans. In this case, Richard Florida in Atlantic Cities:

As a resident of Toronto (hold the Rob Ford jokes), I often say there are many things the United States can learn from its northern neighbor.

Thanks to its stable regulated banking and mortgage systems, Canada was able to sidestep many of the worst aspects of the 2008 economic and financial crisis. The country’s sensible approach on gun control has made its cities, including Toronto, among the safest in the world (Doug Sanders of the Globe and Mailrecently proposed that the country become an “urban safety” exporter). Its health-care system delivers better outcomes at a fraction of the costs. I could go on.

But just over the border in Canada, temp positions made up less than 3 percent (2.7 percent) of the net jobs added to the economy between 2009 and 2013, according to a detailed analysis from my frequent collaborators at the economic modeling firm EMSI.

In fact, Canada has been adding good jobs at a clip that Americans could only hope for. More than a third of all new jobs created in Canada since 2009 pay over $30 dollars an hour.